Another Discharged Battery Problem - Please help

[IdahoSpud]

OK fellas, I am really baffled here...

I have been having problems getting my LT-1000 18HP Kohler to start.

When I try to start it, the starter engages the engine and slowly turns it until it hits the compression point, then it slows to a stop. If I give it a jump start from my car for 2-3 minutes it will start. The jumper cables get quite warm, which indicates a lot of current flows from the car to the mower.

When I got this mower a couple of years ago, it was having this problem, so I replaced the battery. So while the battery is not brand new, the problem has been here all along. I just cleaned the terminals as well.

When I get the mower running after a jump-start, the ammeter shows +10 amps of charging current. And when I restart it after having run it for a few minutes, it cranks hard and fast. Whenever it sits for a week the battery goes nearly dead. So this indicates to me that the solenoid and starter are not the issue, because they work fine when the battery has had some time to charge up with the motor running.

Here's the killer though. I got tired of jumping the darn thing and bought a Black&Decker battery maintainer to keep a charge on it.

So what happened after leaving the mower on the battery maintainer all week? SAME THING!!! What's going on that a battery on charge can't crank a mower after one week, but I still had to use a jump-start??? Help!

 

[EngineMan]

I would have a very good look at the condition of your're lead's, take off the Earth lead (-) and clean it, and also where it goes on the chassis, if the leads are poor condition, replace them with a new starter solenoid, look also at lead from the solenoid to the starter. look for poor electrical connections.
And are you sure that the battery has the right Amps to do the job.
Next time you run it and know that the battery is fully charged, take off one lead until the next time you are going to use it, that way you will know if it's the battery or problem with the unit.

 

[IdahoSpud]

OK got it. Just leave the battery disconnected and on the maintainer.

See what happens next time around. I will check the battery specs when I get home in a bit.

 

[reynoldston]

It sounds to me like you have a voltage draw on the mower when its not running. As long as you are charging the battery its OK but the mower just sets the battery gos dead. A voltage draw can be a lot of things from a short in the battery, bad wires, corrosion, bad switch.

 

[IdahoSpud]

Update. I removed the negative lead from the battery. It is an Exide with 235 CCA at 0 degrees F.

I put an ammeter in series with the battery negative and the negative cable, just to see if there is a draw on the battery while the mower is not running. The draw shows zero.

I guess the next thing will be to see if it starts next time around. If not, I will check the battery voltage while cranking to see how low it drops. I may need to replace the battery again.

 

[Rivets]

If you have to replace the battery I would go with one with at least 250 CCA. I would also take a close look at the battery cables, which may be corroded under the plastic coating, as you said they get very hot when jump starting. This is an indication of high resistance.

 

[Rivets]

Forgot to say that we have started to replace the small thin battery cables which we are finding the manufacturers are starting to use to save $$$$.

 

[IdahoSpud]

Update:

OK this afternoon I removed the battery. On the bench I wire brushed the terminals, then checked the battery voltage. It was 13.4 volts. I wire brushed the negative and positive battery leads.

I removed the negative lead where it mounts to the frame and wire brushed the frame until I saw exposed metal. Then I wire brushed the lug where the negative attaches to the frame.

I wire brushed the lug where the positive lead goes to the starter. The solenoid is a bit inaccessible, and my time was short, so I didn't try to get those lugs polished up.

So, to recap: Most of the connections except the solenoid had been thoroughly cleaned and battery voltage without a load was 13.4V...

... so as usual the motor turned over until it got to compression, then slowly came to a stop.

I had my meter on the battery and it dropped to 7.96 volts when the engine stalled out.

Battery?

 

[Rivets]

I would say the battery is probably bad. When you take it in to get a new one, have them do a load test on the old one first.

 

[IdahoSpud]

Resolution: OK, apparently one of the connections that I cleaned up was bad. Not sure which, because I cleaned all of them except for the ones on the solenoid. However, the machine now cranks like it was new, but on the same old battery.

I *really* appreciate everyone's advice and time. So until the next issue arises, or one that I feel comfortable replying to, best wishes